1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an edge gap sealing arrangement for the rigid lid of an automobile opening roof particularly a sliding roof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Edge gap sealing arrangements for this purpose are well known such as form a watertight seal of the closed lid of the sliding roof with respect to the peripheral rim, surrounding the lid, of the roof opening which seats the closed lid. Such known sealing arrangements include those which have a hollow sealing element formed from an injection moulding having a strip an edge of which is bent over and secured to form the hollow. This arrangement can indeed, by elastic deformation, accommodate slight differences in width of the edge gap and also slight unevenness, that is fluctuations in width, at the rims or edges of the roof opening and lid which in the ideal case are aligned continuously parallel and at uniform spacing, but larger differences and irregularities can at the very least make it difficult to obtain an effective watertight seal. Problems arise for the fitting together of the lid and roof opening, especially where a glass lid that cannot be highly accurately dimensioned is involved, from the dimensional variations that occur due to the differences in manufacturing tolerances between lid and roof opening, which cannot always be satisfactorily compensated by conventional edge gap sealing arrangements or profiles, that is cannot achieve a good watertight seal. The applied pressure at the edge gap seal is, with the described dimensional variations and irregularities, not uniformly distributed over the entire bearing surface at the peripheral rim of the roof opening, which can lead to local leakage points.
In one known edge gap sealing arrangement (see German Petty Patent No DE-G 94 18 090.3, FIGS. 3 and 4) having a hollow sealing element of the kind described above, a beading-like extension, for example generally circular in cross-section, is provided at the outer edge of the edge strip integral with the frame body. This beading-like extension is then, after the edge strip has been bent over, snap-fitted into a recess of corresponding cross-section in the frame body. Since the edge strip possesses uniform dimensions all around the lid periphery, after the edge strip has been bent over and the extension has been snap-fitted into the associated recess, a continuous edge gap seal of uniform cross-section is obtained, which extends around all sides of the lid. With this known edge gap seal it is not possible for the above described, unavoidable dimensional variations and irregularities to be completely compensated, especially when they are large, so that the risk of at least local leakages at the edge gap exists.